Chapter 161 Fishermen want food but not money

Director Zhang laughed when he heard it:

"It's not that we don't want to sell it, but our supply and marketing cooperative doesn't have much stock. If we collect fish maw, who are we going to sell it to? We can't do business at a loss. If we do, it will be a loss for the country."

After chatting for a long time, Lin Sanqi found out that the reason why the supply and marketing cooperative did not accept fish maw was actually the same as that for abalone from Nanri Island and shark fin from Pingtan Island.

If the exploiting class is eliminated in the country, there will be no market for these high-end tonics.

As for exporting, some imperialists are still determined to destroy us and are trying desperately to blockade our country. Our export markets are almost gone. In 1959, we couldn't even export to Hong Kong.

No one buys it, and it is difficult to preserve, so the fish maw rots in various fishery production cooperatives. In any case, the supply and marketing cooperatives are not interested in purchasing it.

As a result, the once glorious fish maw has completely become an "abandoned child", and it will have to wait another 30 years for its next glory.

Lin Sanqi sat there, eating the delicious yellow croaker meat, but he felt uncomfortable in his heart.

Our country has so many good things that cannot be exported to earn foreign exchange and can only rot in the fields. What a waste this is.

If these seafood could be exported and exchanged for more food, many more people would be saved from starvation.

Those were very difficult times, but luckily we managed to get through them.

Seeing that the distinguished guest Lin Sanqi had suddenly fallen silent, Zhang Xingbang decided to liven up the atmosphere:

"Doctor Xiaolin, I have good news to tell you. The two tons of Andrographis paniculata you need have been purchased.

Besides, you're going to Meizhou to buy Phyllanthus urinaria, right? You don't have to go there yourself. I've arranged for colleagues in the cooperative to buy them for you. Andrographis paniculata and Phyllanthus urinaria are now stored in our supply and marketing cooperative's warehouse at Xiamen Railway Station. You can go there to inspect them anytime."

Lin Sanqi was overjoyed when he heard this:

"Wow, Director Zhang, you guys are so quick! I can't believe you finished it in just five days. Thank you so much."

Zhang Xingbang, an old supply and marketing manager, is indeed a very versatile person who knows how to please others. He knows that Lin Sanqi is definitely unwilling to waste time for his daughter, so he helps him complete the purchasing task in advance.

In this way, Lin Sanqi can stay in Fuzhou with peace of mind to help his daughter with her treatment.

"It's no big deal. I'm in charge of purchasing for the supply and marketing cooperative, so it's not difficult for me. As for the Pien Tze Huang you mentioned, Old Huang has already contacted the Zhangzhou Pharmaceutical Factory. However, you'll need to pick it up in person; they'll need to check the relevant documents."

State-owned factories are formal and everything must follow procedures, unlike those rural cooperatives where whoever has the grain is the boss.

Huang Liqiang also joked: "Zhangzhou Pharmaceutical Factory wanted to give me a banner because I helped them complete their task targets for this quarter, haha."

At the dinner table, all three of them chuckled.

Lin Sanqi once again felt that he was very lucky.

So many treasures from later generations were all treated as cannon fodder in this era, with unsold goods lying in warehouses with no one interested in buying them. This gave me an opportunity to take advantage of.

If you traveled back to the Republic of China, there would be warlords fighting each other, the country was falling, smoke of war was everywhere, and bandits were kings of the mountains. If you wanted to travel around in that era, you would probably lose your life halfway.

If I had traveled through time seven years later, it would have been even more difficult to go out and purchase things. After all, it was still unknown whether the hospital would be open, and even if it was open, it was also unknown how many doctors would be on duty.

If you travel back to the 1980s and 1990s, when reform and opening up had already begun and people were not hungry at all, then your golden finger of time travel would be useless and it would be impossible to exchange rice for precious medicinal materials.

So it was exactly the right time to travel back to 1959, when every family was starving, which gave me the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

The next day, Lin Sanqi left three bowls of medicinal soup and went to some fishery cooperatives to do business with the letter of introduction issued by Section Chief Zhang.

On the East China Sea, Nan'ao Mountain Peninsula.

The Nan'aoshan Fishery Cooperative is composed of several nearby fishing villages. It ranks among the top in the province in terms of the number of fishing boats and the amount of fish caught each year.

Therefore, Nan'ao Mountain is also one of the places that produces the most fish maw since ancient times.

As a result, success or failure depends on fishing.

After all, rural cooperatives have limited strength. Given the tonnage of their fishing vessels, they are unable to catch the economic fish species needed by the country in the deep ocean. In addition, due to the lack of refrigeration equipment, the caught fish cannot be preserved.

Unfortunately, at this time, the supply and marketing cooperative was unable to purchase large quantities of fish due to financial difficulties, and the Nan'aoshan Fishery Cooperative fell into financial difficulties.

Without anyone to buy fish, the villagers have no money to buy food.

This dilemma is the same as that of Nanri Island, or it can be said that it is a common dilemma for coastal fishermen.

People in the mountains can also go up the mountain to dig some wild vegetables and hunt some game to survive the famine, and if all else fails, they can even chew tree bark.

But everyone who has traveled to Hujian knows that the beach of Hujian is bare with rocks. Not to mention growing crops, there are not even many trees, and you can't even eat tree bark.

So when Lin Sanqi, a foreign buyer, suddenly appeared out of nowhere, everyone in the Nanaoshan Cooperative was excited.

The director of the cooperative, Liang Haisheng, looked at a letter of introduction from the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a letter of introduction from the Hu Jian Supply and Marketing Cooperative and nodded repeatedly.

"So you're from the capital! That's great! We've been waiting for you to come to our Nan'ao Mountain to buy things. It's 500 kilograms of fish maw. This, this, this, isn't that a little?"

Lin Sanqi thought that he wrote 500 kilograms just to shut Zhang Xingbang and the others up. I would take any 50,000 kilograms you give me.

But he couldn't say it so bluntly. Lin Sanqi also realized that it was a buyer's market now, and since people were begging him, he would definitely have to do something to gain control.

"Director Liang, it's like this. Our unit leader told me before we set out that if it's top-quality golden croaker maw, like the small-bearded golden croaker maw, we'll take as much as we can."

"Golden croaker fish maw? It's incredibly valuable. How much are you at the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine willing to pay?"

Lin Sanqi thought that since he was purchasing for his company, he definitely couldn't offer an exorbitant price, so he referred to the previous purchase price of the supply and marketing cooperative and said:

"One yuan per catty."

“Only 1 yuan?”

Liang Haisheng was dissatisfied when he heard this. He knew that the golden croaker maw was a treasure. It was just that it had fallen into decline in recent years. If it were back then, you wouldn't sell a golden croaker maw for less than 100 yuan in cash.

Liang Haisheng was disappointed as he felt there wasn't much profit to be made and decided to just deal with it casually.

Arriving at the warehouse, Liang Haisheng pointed to a pile of fish maw and said, "Comrade Lin, all our fish maws are here. You can pick whichever pile you want."

Lin Sanqi, hoping to find a bargain, walked forward excitedly, picked up the fish maw and examined it, but then he was also a little disappointed.

Because these fish maws are rather messy and are piled together without being classified by fish species.

There were indeed golden croaker fish maws in it, but they were all relatively small and newly dried. They could not be sold at all in 2013.

This result was obviously not what Lin Sanqi wanted. He stood up and looked around, and found that the warehouse rooms were connected to each other. It was impossible for such a large fishery cooperative to have no "big goods".

The only possibility is that the other party thinks the purchase quantity is too small and the purchase price is too low, so they are too lazy to provide good products.

"Director Liang, the quality of your fish maw isn't very good. It's fine as food, but it's definitely not suitable as a Chinese medicinal ingredient."

Director Liang had a smile on his face, but he was full of contempt in his heart, thinking, what the hell are you expecting with this purchase price?

"Comrade Lin, the main reason is that the purchase price of 1 yuan per catty is too low. We will provide you with whatever price you offer us. If you can raise the purchase price a little more, we will have no shortage of good products."

Although the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has a great reputation, they won’t give it to you if they really don’t want to give you face.

Lin Sanqi was not annoyed when he heard this. After several transactions, he had already figured out the fishermen's minds. They were not the kind of people who were greedy for money, but they definitely could not resist the temptation of food.

Lin Sanqi looked around the warehouse and saw that there was no one around, so he asked tentatively:

"Director Liang, this purchase price is the national guidance price, and we at the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine cannot easily change it. However, we have come here with great difficulty, and we must want to purchase the best fish maw for the people of the capital."

Liang Haisheng noticed something was wrong and looked at Lin Sanqi with a sharp gaze:

"Oh, what's your suggestion, Comrade Lin? If you want better fish maw, you have to exchange it for something better."

Lin Sanqi thought that the Nan'ao mountain village was more confident than Nanri Island and Pingtan Island. The person in charge of the cooperative was also more cunning and more like a businessman. He was not easy to fool and would not show his hand until he saw the rabbit.

Lin Sanqi also kept the other party on suspense and asked, "What do you need most?"

Liang Haisheng blurted out without thinking: "Of course it's food. Who in the country doesn't want food now?"

Lin Sanqi pretended to be embarrassed for a moment, then asked tentatively, "I want the best fish maw. How are you going to exchange it for food?"

"Rice?"

“Yes, rice!”

Liang Haisheng was a bit surprised, thinking, how could this guy from the capital be so unconventional? How could he actually get such white rice? This opportunity must not be missed.

"Comrade Lin, if you can get some rice, I'll take charge. We have the best fish maw in our cooperative..."

"I want redmouth maw, white fish maw, and house maw. As for golden maw, I only want stock that's over 20 years old."

"Okay, I promise to give you the best redmouth maw, white fish maw, and house maw. One pound, and you just need to give me three pounds of rice!"

After saying that, Liang Haisheng quietly observed Lin Sanqi's expression, thinking that although asking for food directly was a bit too much, what if he succeeded?

Lin Sanqi didn't say anything. He felt that Liang Haisheng was too shrewd. He'd better check the goods first. It would be troublesome if he gave the rice but got a bunch of garbage fish maw in return.

"Director Liang, there's no problem with the rice exchange in principle, but I need to inspect the goods first. After all, you know how valuable food is right now. I wouldn't be able to explain any loss back at work."

Liang Haisheng's eyes lit up.

Hey everyone, I'm uploading late today, mainly because I was at a wedding in Shanghai last night. I rarely see many relatives, and I ended up getting drunk. Now my mouth is full of alcohol. Drinking really ruins things.

(End of this chapter)